FOR HEALTHCARE EDUCATORS & PROGRAMMES
Free transition-to-practice articles for healthcare educators
Support placement preparation, professional reasoning, feedback, escalation and the transition into professional practice with freely available, evidence-informed Core & Oak articles and practical resources.
For programme teams, module leaders, placement educators, practice educators and colleagues supporting transition into professional practice.
Articles can be linked from your online learning environment, used as preparatory reading, incorporated into teaching activities or used to support reflection and supervision.
Easy to use within existing teaching
Core & Oak articles are designed to be flexible rather than prescriptive. Use them in the way that best fits your programme, learners and learning outcomes.
Link from your VLE
Add Core & Oak articles or resources as additional reading within Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas or another online learning environment.
Prepare for placement
Use articles before placement to prompt discussion around uncertainty, escalation, communication and professional responsibility.
Support Teaching
Use articles, scenarios and frameworks as preparation for seminars, tutorials or professional-practice teaching.
Prompt Reflection
Use the articles or resources to support supervision, reflective discussion or follow-up after practice experiences.
Use Core & Oak visuals in your teaching
Core & Oak articles include original diagrams and infographics designed to make aspects of professional practice easier to discuss. Educators are welcome to use these visuals in teaching slides, presentations and password-protected learning environments for non-commercial educational purposes. Please retain the Core & Oak branding where present and acknowledge the source.
Suggested attribution: Core & Oak © 2026 · coreandoak.com
This permission applies to original Core & Oak graphics only. Externally sourced material remains subject to the copyright terms of the original rights holder.
Free articles for placement and transition-to-practice learning
These articles explore some of the situations students and newly qualified professionals encounter as responsibility, autonomy and professional expectations increase.
Educators are welcome to signpost learners to publicly available Core & Oak articles and use them as supporting resources within teaching and placement preparation.
ASKING FOR HELP
How to Ask for Help Without Feeling Incompetent
Explores how learners can recognise uncertainty, organise their thinking and seek appropriate support without assuming that asking for help undermines professional credibility.
Useful for:
Placement preparation · supervision · communication · escalation
MAKING REASONING VISIBLE
How to Explain Your Clinical Reasoning Clearly
Helps learners connect what they notice with what they think it means, what remains uncertain and what they believe should happen next.
Useful for:
Reasoning · handover · MDT communication · supervision
ESCALATION AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
When Should I Escalate a Concern as a Newly Qualified Healthcare Professional?
Explores escalation as a judgement about risk, responsibility and whether another person now needs to know, review, decide or act.
Useful for:
Patient safety · placement preparation · professional judgement · communication
JUDGEMENT UNDER UNCERTAINTY
Confidence as a Newly Qualified Healthcare Professional: Safe Practice Without Certainty
Explores how safe, proportionate and defensible professional judgement can still be possible when information is incomplete or uncertainty remains.
Useful for:
Professional reasoning · decision-making · reflective discussion
FEEDBACK LITERACY
How to Receive Feedback Without Becoming Defensive
Explores how learners can listen, clarify, evaluate and respond constructively when their judgement or practice is challenged.
Useful for:
Placement preparation · supervision · reflection · feedback
WHEN PRACTICE GOES WRONG
What to Do After Making a Mistake at Work as a Newly Qualified Healthcare Professional
Explores how healthcare professionals can respond safely, openly and constructively when something goes wrong, including immediate action, communication, professional processes and learning.
Useful for:
Professionalism · accountability · patient safety · reflective learning
A growing resource library
This collection will continue to grow, with new Core & Oak resources published weekly across transition to practice, professional judgement, communication, reflection, career development and related areas.
How to use a Core & Oak Articles in teaching
A Core & Oak article can be used as a standalone reading or as the starting point for a short discussion or reflective activity.
Example: preparing students for escalation
Ask students to read “When Should I Escalate a Concern?” before a placement-preparation session.
Discussion prompts
- What would tell you that responsibility needs to widen?
- What information would you want to gather within your role?
- What would you communicate to the person you were escalating to?
- What might make the situation require urgent rather than routine escalation?
Adapt it to your context
The intention is not to provide one universal answer across professions or settings. Educators can adapt the discussion to local practice, professional standards, learner level and placement context.
Possible formats
- Pre-seminar reading
- Small-group discussion
- Problem-based learning
- Placement preparation
- Reflective writing
- Supervision conversation
- Use Infographics as prompts
Designed to complement professional education
Core & Oak articles are designed to complement existing programme, placement and professional education. They can be used flexibly alongside programme learning outcomes, professional standards, local procedures and educator judgement.
Healthcare practice varies across professions, settings and organisations, so learners should always interpret resources within the requirements of their own programme, placement and professional context.
Downloadable educator guide
FREE EDUCATOR GUIDE
Transition-to-Practice Resources for Healthcare Education
Download a one-page overview of the current Core & Oak article collection, including suggested educational uses for each.
Useful for sharing with module teams, placement colleagues and programme leads.
About Core & Oak
Core & Oak develops evidence-informed professional development focused on the judgement, communication and professional capabilities that underpin effective healthcare practice.
About Dr Michael McCluskey
Core & Oak is led by Dr Michael McCluskey, Chartered Physiotherapist and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, with experience across clinical practice, healthcare education, curriculum, assessment and programme leadership.
Using Core & Oak with a Programme or Cohort?
If you are considering Core & Oak articles or resources for placement preparation, transition-to-practice teaching, preceptorship or wider professional development, we would be pleased to discuss how they could support your learners and programme.
We are also open to conversations about cohort access to courses, educator collaboration, tailored resources and wider organisational use.
Core & Oak also provides structured self-paced CPD for healthcare professionals.
Core & Oak 